


Just a Dream

by agentofmerlin



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Gen, Other, Season/Series 10 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 12:20:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5828353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentofmerlin/pseuds/agentofmerlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because that’s what this was really about.  After all these years.  It was about keeping William safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Dream

“Dad. Daddy. Wake up.”

Mulder blinked blearily into the darkness. He could just barely make out the figure standing at his bedside. “William?” He sat up slowly. Scully stirred beside him but did not wake. “What’s a matter?” he asked his son. William clutched at his hand.

“There’s something under my bed.” Mulder pushed the covers back, chilly air greeting him as he stood.

“Come on,” he whispered, “let’s go investigate.” He and William made their way across the hall; Mulder turned the light on once they reached William’s room. Blue walls and the small collection of baseball trophies atop the shelf on the wall greeted him. He bent down, pushing the covers away so that he could see beneath the bed in its entirety.

“I don’t see anything, Will,” he announced after a few moments.

“Are you sure?” William asked. He shrank against the wall, his thumb in his mouth.

“I’m sure,” Mulder reassured him, guiding him gently back to bed. “There is nothing there. I promise.”

“Do you believe in monsters, Dad?” William questioned, relaxing a bit at his father’s assurances. Mulder sat on the edge of the bed.

“Yes. But not in the way you might think.”

“Huh?” Mulder smiled.

“Back in the day, your mother and I investigated tons of cases together, and we came across monsters. But more often than not, the evil that greeted us came from men.”

“So . . . humans are evil?”

“Some of them.”

“Why?” Mulder chuckled, ruffling William’s hair.

“Let’s save the theological questions for another time. Right now, we both need sleep.” He kissed William on the forehead. “Goodnight, buddy.”

“Goodnight, Dad.”

Mulder padded softly out of the room and slipped back into his own bed. Scully rested her hand atop his. “Everything okay?” She questioned. Mulder wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Yep,” he replied, “just a classic case of ‘the monster under the bed.’”

“Hmm. I guess you didn’t need my help solving that one.”

“Not this time,” Mulder laughed. He kissed her softly. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she smiled. “Go back to sleep. I’m fixing pancakes in the morning.”

“Oooh. My favori –”

A clap of thunder brought him back to reality. Mulder bolted upwards, heart hammering in his chest. “William,” he said dazedly, starting out of the bed. Then it hit him: he had been dreaming. William wasn’t there, and neither was Scully beside him. It was just a dream.

He slid back down underneath the covers, a familiar emptiness settling over him. His eyes felt wet; he dashed his hand over them in an attempt to calm himself. He looked at the clock. _4:13am_. In less than four hours, he and Scully would be back at the FBI. His quest to find the truth would be back on track.

Finding the truth had always been about justice for Samantha. This time it was different. This time it was about justice for the innocent. Justice for those who had unwillingly been pulled into this government conspiracy.

Maybe he could help them. Maybe he and Scully together could help them. And maybe, just maybe, they could help their son. Wherever he was. Because that’s what this was really about. After all these years. It was about keeping William safe.


End file.
